Damsel in Drunkiness
by KSTapp
Summary: The party from Noah's point of view, where Elle gets drunk.
1. Chapter 1

Damsel in Drunkiness

He heard the warning signs of trouble before he saw them. "Check it out." It was more the tone Lee's friend used that caused him to turn, than what he actually said. And check it out he did. There, on the pool table was Elle. She was what he guessed was dancing, but she was certainly swaying. Just not to the beat of the music. How much had she had to drink?

"Haha." Lee clearly wasn't seeing a problem so maybe she wasn't as drunk as I thought she was. Perhaps she was just fooling around. After all, Lee spent more time with her than I did. She was my brother's best friend. Somehow I just couldn't see her as a little sister type anymore.

"Oh God. It's hot out here." Or maybe she was as drunk as I thought she was. This was not good. I could see the moment Lee realised it as well.

"Dude." Ok, Lee's friend was really beginning to annoy me. Especially the way he was looking at Elle.

"Oh no." Lee was only just realising what his best friend was about to do.

"Totally dying." Oh hell. Now she was unlacing her dress. I was going to have to do something fast before the entire senor class saw her naked. And I wouldn't put it past at least half of the guys here to try something, despite my threats of what would happen if anyone made a move on Elle.

"No, no." Lee seemed frozen in disbelief at his friend stripping on the pool table. Why wasn't he doing anything to stop her?

"I'm taking this off." She almost fell off the table reaching for the hem of her dress.

"No!" Lee still wasn't moving, but I sure as hell am.

"Who cares." And off came the dress to the cheers from the crowd and my brother burying his face in his hands. Well I care. Did Elle have any idea how much danger she was putting herself in? "We should go skinny dipping!" Not if I have any say in it.

"Absolutely!" Seriously, that guy was going to be on the receiving end of my fist if he didn't stop ogling Elle.

"Yearbook!" I made a mental note of the Yearbook geek. Those photos would never see the light of day.

"Yeah!" Elle was so going to regret this in the morning if she didn't fall off the pool table and give herself a concussion first.

"Dude." Luckily Lee's friend chose to jump in the pool, dragging Lee with him. Cause I was close enough now to throttle him. But my main concern was getting to Elle.

By the looks of her, the alcohol had just hit her full force. "Here I come. I'm gonna oh!" I manage to reach her just as she toppled, right over my shoulder making it easy to carry her back into the house, grabbing her dress as I went.

"Who is this? Are you, are you a girl Princess or a boy Princess?" Her babbling was adorable. "You smell good." I just hoped she didn't puke down my back.

Normally when Elle stayed here, she stayed in the guestroom. But after what I had just witnessed downstairs, I wasn't sure she would be safe. I did know she would be safe in my room. After all, nobody would be brave enough to go into my room without my say so.

This was probably not the smartest move to make considering my conflicting feelings for Elle, but her safety was the more important thing right now. Carefully placing her on her feet, I quickly tugged her dress over her head covering her way too distracting figure.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Should have seen that coming. I managed to get Elle into the bathroom and her head over the toilet bowl before she started heaving. Not quite fast enough for her not to be sick on her dress though.

"Is she ok?" Lee poked his head around the door. "I didn't realise she had so much to drink."

"Just watch her for a second while I find something for her to wear. She can't sleep in a dress covered in sick" I didn't want her falling over if she got up to leave.

"Sure. Is the guest room not made up?" Had Lee not seen those guys slobbering over Elle?

"Yes. I'll stay in the guest room. Elle can stay in here where no one will take advantage of her." I grabbed the closest shirt and could have sworn I heard the sound of a camera. That reminded me I still have to get hold of the yearbook geek's phone and delete those photos. In truth I had no idea if the guest room was made up or not.

Lee was holding Elle's hair back as she continued emptying the contents of her stomach. "I think I threw up a lung." Elle groaned as she sank to the floor. "I don't need both lungs right?"

"I don't see your lung in there." Lee peered into the toilet bowl. "Do you know how many drinks you had? Cause I don't think you had anything to eat."

"Weren't you with Elle?" How could Lee not know how much Elle had been drinking? And apparently on an empty stomach.

"She was with the OMG girls. I was giving her space to talk me up with Mia." Lee shrugged. "But all they wanted to talk about was if you would do the kissing booth." He never had a chance with Mia. She was way too involved in herself to be giving Lee a second look.

"Not going to do it." How could he? There was only one girl he really wanted to kiss and she was currently crashed out by the toilet. Making out with random girls to cover how he felt about his brother's best friend, was getting old.

"Why not?" Lee seemed genuinely confused. "It's not as though you don't kiss a lot of girls now. This way you could help raise money for charity as well."

"Can you just hold Elle up while I put this shirt on her?" Now was not the time to discuss this with Elle unconscious between us. I dampened a face cloth and wiped Elle's face before carefully removing the dress I had just put back on her, replacing it with my shirt. Damn if she didn't look good in my shirt.

"Are you seriously going to sleep in the guest room and let Elle use your room?" Lee looked suspicious. Had I given my feelings away somehow? I thought I have been covering it well.

"Nobody will try anything with her in here." I picked Elle up and carried her to my bed and tucked her in, pushing my trash can closer in case she got sick again. "Can you get back downstairs and make sure nobody's trashing the house?"

"Sure." Lee was still suspicious. "You're coming back downstairs, right?" Now he was looking after his best friend?

"Yeah, I'm just going to put her dress in the wash and make sure she doesn't get sick again. We can't send her home tomorrow in my shirt." It was a delaying tactic sure, but as a responsible host I had to be certain my guests were all looked after. Really, I just wanted a few minutes more with her.

I tossed the dress in the washing machine making a mental note to put it in the dryer once everyone had gone. Making sure nobody had broken anything and that I was at least seen at my own party, I crept back upstairs to check on Elle.

She was out like a light and so adorable. I was pretty certain she'd have one hell of a hangover in the morning and a sneaking suspicion that Lee had taken photos of her as proof. I couldn't believe that she and Lee were trying to get me to take part in the kissing booth. What were either of them thinking?

Now that I had thought about it, I doubted Elle had ever been kissed. Probably because I had scared everyone who showed any interest in her off. Especially when she stopped seeming like a little sister to me. Truth be known, I had always been drawn to her.

She was so different than the other girls. It was a refreshing change. Elle never threw herself at me or tried to get my attention. She didn't wear a lot of make up or skimpy dresses. It seemed as though she was comfortable in her own skin most of the time.

I sat on the floor leaning against my bedroom door watching Elle sleep. She was driving me crazy with her mixture of sweetness and strength. She had stood up to me defending Lee since we were little. But why did she have to be my brother's best friend? Even if she felt the same way about me that I felt about her, Lee would not deal with it well.

Despite my reputation, the thought of Elle choosing her friendship with Lee, over me did not sit well. Realising my absence might begin to be noticed, I headed back to the party. It seemed as though Elle was out for the night, but I'd check on her randomly until everyone headed home.

It didn't take much persuasion to get the photos of Elle stripping off the Yearbook geek's phone. I just glared at him and he handed over his phone. At least they wouldn't be showing up in this year's yearbook or anywhere else.

The party wound up at a reasonable hour. Keys were taken off of those too wasted to drive. The living room was covered in sleeping bodies by the time Lee and I headed up to bed, after a quick tidy up so there wouldn't be as much to do in the morning.

"Wow, she's really out of it." Lee peeked into my room. "So I managed to do a survey of the party and she had roughly five different shots and at least two pints of beer and also she was at one point, drinking straight from the jug."

"And she hasn't eaten anything since lunch since she had practise after school and then ran home because she didn't want to get on my bike." I concluded. In other words, Elle had worked off anything she had eaten during the day and drunk half her body weight in alcohol.

Lee had the decency to look guilty. "I guess not. I probably should have asked you to take your car today."

"Get some sleep. We'll have to tidy the rest of the house up tomorrow before Mum and Dad get home." I had made sure the guest room was made up earlier but I needed something to sleep in. Lee said good night and I went into my room to grab something to wear.

Who was I kidding? I was going in there to check on Elle. At some point she had kicked off the blankets so I tucked her back in. Before I even thought about it, I kissed her forehead. I had to get out of here before I did something really stupid.

I grabbed something to sleep in and went across the hall to the guest room. Normally I would be in my own room with the door closed, but tonight I was sleeping with the door open in case somebody decided to try their luck upstairs. I would keep Elle safe from everyone. Including me.

THE END


	2. Chapter 2

THE MORNING AFTER

Judging from the groans coming from behind my bedroom door, Elle was awake and feeling the after effects of one too many drinks last night. Then the moment she realised she was in my bedroom from the gasp that followed the groan.

Not bothering to knock because it was my room, I walked in to get some clean clothes. Lee had just come back from getting Elle some hangover food and was waiting for her to surface. I had reached the drawers before Elle apparently looked up and realised I was in the room and only wearing a towel. "Sorry." I hadn't meant to disturb her but I couldn't really hang around all day in a wet towel. Plus I hadn't thought to grab some clothes before I got in the shower.

"It's ok." Elle looked stunned. I couldn't be sure if it was because she had woken up in my room, the sight of me only wearing a towel or a side effect of her hangover.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I was just grabbing some clothes." I was certain I hadn't woken her, but there was no need to make her feel any worse than she already did. Even hung over with her makeup messed up she was cute.

"So, how bad was I?" I wondered how much she could remember. Judging from the expression on her face not much apart from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

"Ah, you were about to strip on the pool table. In front of a bunch of guys. And then go skinny dipping. I carried you out before too much came off. Oh and you threw up on your dress." I left out the part where I had only just put the dress back on her when she threw up on it. Then had to take it back off her and put my t-shirt on her. Judging from the look of horror on Elle's face it was probably a good thing I did.

"Oh Noah. I'm sorry." Why was she apologising to me. She was the one who had ended up in an embarrassing situation.

"It's ok. But I mean, this was exactly what I was talking about Shelly." The same guys who were cheering her on when she was stripping, hadn't even noticed when she disappeared from the party.

"Oh this is so embarrassing." She seemed to remember at that point that she was in my bed. "Oh, I hope I didn't snore." Wait! What? She thought I slept in the same bed as her?

"Elle, I um, I slept in the guest room." Sure, I had checked up on her one or ten times. My brother would have lost it if I had slept in the same room, let alone the same bed as his best friend.

"Oh, yeah, of course, ok." She climbed out of my bed, looking down at what she was wearing which was showing off her fantastic legs. "I um am assuming the t-shirt means you saw me in my underwear."

"Yep." No sense in lying. After all she was wearing my shirt.

"Oh my God." She looked down realising she still wasn't wearing much. "Oh my God." It was quite funny watching her dive behind my curtains. "Ok ah shorts please." She pointed to my shorts on the floor. "Can you please?"

This was too funny and she looked adorable in my shirt. "No. Ah" I shook my head. That just seemed to aggravate her, which was so cute. "Ok fine."

"I'll just them myself." We both dove for my shorts, but Elle still had hold of the curtain which came away from the window, tripping her and knocking me down. Somehow we got tangled in the curtain which wasn't unpleasant. "Stop pulling."

"I'm not pulling." I wasn't exactly being helpful. I couldn't help but laugh. This could only happen with Elle. Any other girl would be too focused on touching up her makeup instead of covering up.

"Ok, just let me reach down." The shocked look on her face when she innocently reached under my towel was hysterical.

"I said stop wriggling." I was frantically trying not to react to her touch. At this rate I would need another shower. A cold one.

We manage to roll and untangle from the curtain. Elle scrambled up and grabbed my shorts and hastily pulled them on, while I tried to keep my towel from falling off. "Sorry." She ran for the bedroom door.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" I couldn't help but tease her. Plus I really didn't want her to leave me so soon. The bewildered look on her face was worth it. "My t-shirt."

The last thing I actually expected was for her to take me seriously. "Your t-shirt. Right I'm sorry." She actually started to take the shirt off.

"Elle!" I wasn't complaining about the view, but if she kept going, I was going to spend the entire day in a cold shower.

"What?" Did she really think I'd give her my shorts to wear, only to want my shirt back?

"Jesus woman. I was just kidding." She still had my shirt half way off.

"So I should..." Really? Why would she even question it? Did she really think he was that big of a player?

"Ok. Yeah." She ducked out the door.

For the past couple of years I had enjoyed my reputation as a player. Although I was nearly as big a player as the rumours made out. But this was the first time somebody thinking that reputation was true, bothered me.

Elle's opinion mattered to me. I didn't really want to admit just how long it had meant something to me. There was nobody else like her. The way she stood up to me. Mostly in defence of Lee which just made her matter to me even more.

It sent chills through me to think of what could have happened last night, if I hadn't carried her out. That was only made worse by the fact that the same guys who had been ogling her, didn't notice that she had disappeared or ask if she was alright. Elle had been holding my attention since we were all little kids. Now though it was having a whole different effect on me. Hiding that I had feelings for my brother's best friend was getting difficult. So was hiding my feelings from Elle.

I could hear Elle talking to Lee. When I heard her groan, I figured he had shown her the photos he took of her crashed out on the floor of my bathroom next to the toilet. They were the only photos of her last night which I hadn't made sure were deleted. Mostly because I knew Lee would never show them to anyone but Elle.

Maybe going for a ride would help me clear my head. Somehow I doubted it. That usually worked but Elle was a whole different matter. It was a good job Elle was running the Kissing Booth and not actually taking part in it. I couldn't exactly warned every guy off kissing her at a kissing booth, especially since it was raising money for some charity.

Pulling on some clothes, I grabbed my helmet and headed out the door. At the last minute I remembered to put Elle's dress in the dryer. I doubted her father would pleased if she came home wearing my clothes. Maybe a bit of distance was what I needed to be able to work out what I was feeling. Or get over it.

THE END


End file.
